Before Delilah could move away, Pi asked, "Information now?"
The woman checked for other customers that needed service and when she saw none, made a hand gesture.
"I'm looking for a place to live. Is there a real estate office or something?"
Without hesitation Delilah answered, "You can't live here."
"I've got money."
The bartender looked her over, dismissing her as so many had before. Though Pi knew when she was older she'd enjoy her youthful looks, at the current moment, it seemed like a curse.
"Money don't matter. You need a sponsor."
"Sponsor?"
Delilah nodded. "A bonded member of Big Dave's Town."
"And how does one go about getting sponsorship?" asked Pi.
"You don't," said Delilah.
"Are you a bonded member?"
Delilah nodded. "It's my place, after all."
"Could I pay you for sponsorship?" she asked.
"I told you. It's not about the money. We keep a tight ship down here, and we only take in people we trust. Since we don't know you, well, you get the picture."
"Tight ship?" asked Pi. "When I was coming in here, I saw the fungusfolk get hit by some thieves or something."
Delilah half growled, glancing back towards the cowboy with animosity. The cowboy didn't seem to notice. Pi caught the tin star on his chest. He was an honest-to-god sheriff, which explained the look she'd given him.
Before Pi could ask any more questions, Delilah left to pour another beer for the guy two seats over. Pi's dinner arrived a little while later, and the burger was as delicious as it smelled. It was bubbling with grease, and the bacon was a perfect crispiness that exploded on her tongue.
She was wolfing down the shroom fries in twos and threes when the bartender called out while pointing behind her, "Pi!"
After dropping the fries onto the plate, Pi spun around, fingers gesticulating, carving a mini force bolt from midair to throw at the girl with the green hair in the hoodie approaching with something wrapped in a sack that could have been a knife or a gun.
Right as the spell knocked the girl off her feet, Pi's mind reinterpreted the bartender's words, especially as she saw the go-box that had been in the girl's hands flying into the air, spilling a wedge of apple pie, which landed unceremoniously between her legs.
Every eye, a katana from behind the bar, and at least three guns were cocked in Pi's direction. She held her hands up and quickly said, "I've made a terrible mistake."
Delilah held the katana like a baseball bat, so Pi didn't think she had to worry about her, but the guns could kill her before she got a spell off.
The sheriff approached with a big gun in his hand. His forehead was wrinkled with disappointment.
"Care to explain yourself?" he asked in a Jersey accent.
"I'm sorry," said Pi, rushing through her explanation. "My name is Pi, short for Pythia, and when she called out 'Pie,' I thought she was saying 'Pi,' warning me about something behind me. I'm so sorry, so very sorry."
While trying to look as contrite as possible, Pi covertly eyed the doorway. It was too far away to reach.
"You alright, Jade?" he asked the fallen girl.
The girl in the red hoodie picked bits of broken apple pie crust from her clothes. "A little shook up, Vincent, but otherwise I'm fine."
"I'll pay for a replacement pie, and your dinner. I'm really sorry," said Pi, trying to get a look at the girl's face to see if she was going to press charges, or whatever they did in Big Dave's Town, but she was still knocking apple gunk from her hoodie.
Vincent slipped his gun into his holster. "What'dya think?"
Jade climbed to her feet, and seeing more exploded pie on the way up, she tugged off her hoodie, throwing it on the table behind her.
Pi thought someone had hit her with a bean bag the moment Jade looked at her. Pi's interests cast a pretty wide net, but she’d never been interested enough to move beyond a couple of dates or a one-night stand.
Jade had a dark complexion, exotic—as if she had a touch of supernatural—with kissable lips, long eyelashes, and a sleeve of flowered tattoos on her left arm. She had that practiced indifference that young movie stars got when they turned from cute TV stars to old enough for R-movies smoking hot.
"Not hurt, or anything, and I'm cool if she pays for dinner, and the whole pie," said Jade.
"I'm really such an idiot," said Pi, shaking her head, trying not to imagine kissing Jade, or running her fingers through her dark hair with green tips. "I'm happy to pay for it."
Delilah, who had the katana on her shoulder, yelled into the back, "One apple pie!" Then to the restaurant when she realized everyone was still watching, "Show's over, and it won't cost you a cent—this time."
Conversations and the clank of silverware on plates resumed. Vincent looked like he was revving up to deliver a lecture, when one of the fungusfolk tie-dyed hippies came through the door and went straight to the sheriff.
"I got hit again," he said, scratching at his beard of ochre mushrooms, knocking a few caps onto the floor. "Damn things are robbing me blind."
Vincent adjusted his cowboy hat. "I'll come by and take a look, Bear, after I'm done with dinner."
"I don't need you to check on my produce. I need you to stop them," said Bear, wringing his hands.
"My jurisdiction extends to the edge of the cavern, and no further," said Vincent.
"What the hell are we paying you for then?" asked Bear. "First you won't let me be bonded, even when I've been here as long as the rest of you, and now you won't stand up to the agreements. I pay my fair share of taxes. If you won't help, I'll take my market elsewhere."
Delilah said, "Hey, whoa, don't get so hasty. Vincent, are you sure you can't do something? Bear provides great fresh food. You like your apple pies, amiright?"
"It's not my call," said Vincent, spreading his hands in a what-can-you-do pose. "I'm not supposed to leave the caverns on official business, even if I wanted to."
"Dammit," said Bear, slapping his leg. "Then I'm leaving."
"I'll help," said Pi, hearing the words echoed from a few feet away. She shared a glance with Jade, who shot back an annoyed expression.
"I can take care of it," said Jade. "For the right price."
Pi turned to Delilah. "I'll do it if you sponsor me."
"What the hell?" asked Jade. "First you blast me on my ass, and now you're horning in on my business?"
Vincent put his hands out. "Whoa, ladies. I'm not sure this is the kind of work a couple of young girls could handle."
"Go fuck yourself," said Jade as she hit him in the arm.
"Handle?" said Pi, right after. "Why don't you shut the hell up before I take that handle, shove it up your ass, and break it off."
Jade stifled a snort, then resumed her serious demeanor when Pi glanced over. Vincent blushed and pushed his cowboy hat down on his head as if he were a turtle trying to go into his shell.
"Deal," said Delilah, smacking the counter with an open palm. "You stop whatever these things are and I'll sponsor you."
Jade threw her hands in the air. "What about me? I've lived here longer than her!"
"Sorry, honey. I'm not paying you for what I can get her to do for free, and judging by that spell work of hers, she can handle herself," said Delilah, chuckling and looking at Vincent when she said "handle."
Pi slipped off her backpack. "Would you hold onto this while I take care of this?" Delilah stuck it behind the counter. Pi paid her bill. "I'll be back as soon as I'm done."
Jade followed Pi out of the Devil's Lipstick. "I don't know who the hell you are, but you can't just do this."
"Do what?" asked Pi as she oriented herself. Her plan was to check the area around the market for signs that she could follow.
"I needed that money."
Jade had her arms crossed. Her hair was falling into her face, and Pi wanted to tuck it behind her ear.
"Could you really stop them?" asked Pi.
Jade blew a breath out dismissively. "With my hands tied behind my back."
"Prove it."
"Why?"
"I don't know the area and I could use the help," said Pi, silently questioning her reasons for asking Jade along.
"Are you going to pay me?"
Pi nodded.
Jade rolled her eyes like she wasn't going to do it, then sighed and took a stance as if she were about to play Five Elements. Her finger work was tight, no sloppy curved fingers when the knuckle had to be held at a ninety-degree angle. At the end, Jade blew air into her cupped hands, revealing a ghostly whip-poor-will that trilled a quick song before leaping into flight, disappearing over the Devil's Lipstick in three short wing bursts.
"You're hired."
"Thanks," said Jade. "I guess."
Bear met them at the market. The stalls were wooden with bright canvases overtop. The air was sweet with the smell of fresh produce. A few people were strolling through the rows of produce, including a man with bright blue skin and a forked tongue that tasted the air every few seconds.
"I much appreciate your help," Bear said, though he looked skeptical about their chances of success.
"Where did they hit you?" asked Pi at the same time Jade asked a similar question.
Bear looked between them before finally answering without looking at either.
"They hit the far side. Took a whole bushel of peaches, two trays of strawberries, a container of apples, and some radishes. Don't sound like a lot, but it costs a pretty penny to get stuff hauled down here, especially as fresh as it is."
The stall that had been pilfered from looked like it'd been hit by a bunch of toddlers. There were empty spaces where the food had been, and the rest was knocked around as if the thieves had been blind.
When Pi couldn't find any signs through simple examination, she searched her pockets for the correct reagents, coming up empty.
"Got any salt?" she asked Bear.
He went two stalls over and returned with a shaker of rock salt. As he handed it over, his face wrinkled. "No demon summoning."
"Don't worry," she said.
Realizing she couldn't grind the salt and hold her hand out to collect it, Pi handed it to Jade.
"Can you grind this into my hand?"
"Sure," Jade said, performing the deed with a practiced annoyance.
Standing so near Jade while the salt poured into her palm made the little hairs on the back of Pi's neck crackle with pleasurable static.
When she had enough salt, Pi pulled a ceramic cup from her leather jacket, dumped the salt in, and set it on the smooth cavern floor. She heated the salt using magic; the semi-difficult part was keeping the heat inside the cup. The white crystals sparked and crackled until the whole mixture turned into a white brick.
Then using a needle shoved into the center as a fulcrum, Pi balanced the puck in the cup and used a sharpie to make an "X" on the salt side sticking up.
The divining spell was the simplest part. After it was cast, she hovered the cup over the area, and the salt puck spun with a wobble. When she moved it away, it slowed.
Pi had been so focused on her task that she'd forgotten anyone else was nearby. When she looked up at Jade, Pi caught a moment of soft wonder on her face, which was quickly slammed behind a wall of indifference.
"Okay," said Pi. "We'll take it from here. Not sure where this will lead us, but we'll let you know what we find."
Bear nodded and returned to his market with a wave and a parting comment for good luck.
Following the trail of faez required a back and forth pattern, watching for the spinning "X." The further she got away from the trail, the slower the disc spun, the closer, the faster. Pi got the hang of tracking pretty quickly.
About halfway out of the cavern, Jade said, "They don't like Hall mages in Big Dave's Town. Especially rich ones who didn't earn their money."
Pi stopped so abruptly, the salt puck almost went flying out of the cup. She grabbed it with her other hand and glared back at Jade.
"I quit the Halls last year, and I earned this money," said Pi.
"I doubt it," said Jade, eyes smoldering with anger. "I'm gonna take a big guess that you grew up in suburbia to some rich parents who probably also went to the Halls."
"I—I...that's not—I did," said Pi, and in trying to find her words, growled. "Yes, fine. I grew up wealthy, but then my parents got killed by some homicidal maniac, and my sister and I got shipped off to the orphanage, then shuttled around foster homes for like forever, until we got into the Halls ourselves."
Jade had appeared ready to fire back a new insult, but as Pi spoke, her anger deflated.
"I'm sorry," said Jade, the phrase almost a question.
They resumed the search in silence. The trail led them out of the cavern to a passage that was only as tall as they were, requiring them to duck occasionally, and lit with magelights. A sign at the beginning explained the passage went in the direction of the Bright Anvil. They moved quickly since Pi didn't have to weave back and forth to find the path.
"Can you tell how far we have to go?" asked Jade, glancing behind them.
"Not really," said Pi. "With more tools I could build a faez detector that would tell us the strength, but right now, the spinning disk will have to be enough."
"I'm sorry about your parents," said Jade. "I saw the jacket, and the arrogance of privilege, and I figured you for a rich girl."
"I suppose that was almost me," said Pi.
"Why did you quit the Halls?"
"It's complicated. But let's just say I learned how corrupt they were," said Pi.
Jade's eyes widened. "You said you had a sister? Is she still in the Halls?"
Pi nodded. "Arcanium. That's where I was for two years, Coterie for another."
"Two halls? Wow. I've never heard of that."
"Were you in the Halls?" asked Pi.
Her expression darkened as if a cloud had formed over her. "I never had the money to test. I know I could have passed too. My ability should have been enough, but it wasn't. System is rigged for the rich."
From what Pi had learned, she knew this to be true. Jade walked beside her with fists clenched and jaw pulsing with anger. This would have been her if she'd never gotten into the Halls.
"The magic earlier," said Pi. "Do you have a patron?"
Jade shook her head. "No way. I'm not going to be beholden to anyone, especially the nut jobs in places like the Undercity who offer protection. And the risk of faez madness isn't as much as you think. They just say that so people will depend on the Halls."
They came upon a crossroads. The spinning salt puck led them to the left, down a set of connecting caverns filled with jagged stalactites and stalagmites that required more care to move through without cutting themselves on the sharp stone.
"What about you?" asked Jade.
"No nut jobs for me either."
They shared a smile. Pi found it hard not to imagine kissing Jade, and judging by her look, she might be doing the same.
Pi had an idea there would be water ahead when she smelled the cool air. The underground lake went into the distance, at least a couple hundred meters, based on the dim phosphorescent lichen that clung to everything in the cavern. The surface of the water was like a black shimmering mirror, with no currents or wind to disturb it.
The spinning disc led to a sandy beach at the water's edge. Signs of people pushing a small boat into the lake were evident by the markings in the sand.
"Not going to get much further without a boat," said Jade, staring at the footprints.
Pi reviewed the possible ways she could get across the lake. All of them required getting wet, an option she was willing to take if it earned her a spot in Big Dave's Town.
"There are ways..."
"Great," said Jade, speaking loudly, suddenly cheery as she looked around. "Let's get started."
Pi was digging through her pockets looking for a rubber ball when Jade said, "This reall
y sucks."
There was a wrongness in Jade's voice that stopped Pi cold.
"What sucks?" asked Pi, catching a glimpse of Jade pulling something from her pocket.
"I think I like you," said Jade. "But I can't trust that you are who you say you are."
The first part brought heat to Pi's face. She wanted to respond that she liked Jade too, when Pi realized that the object in Jade's hand was a gun and it was pointed right at her.
"Jade?"
"I'm real sorry about this. You kinda messed the plan up." Jade tilted her head back. "You can come out now."
Shapes moved from the shadows. There were five girls, weapons in hand. Some of them had deformities, which suggested curses or other incurable magical injuries.
Pi wondered how they would have known that their plan had changed until she remembered the ghostly whip-poor-will. She should have known it was a message bird.
"Double dipping on your thievery?" asked Pi, hoping to delay the inevitable.
"A little food, a little money." She raised her eyebrow at Pi. "And a really nice magical jacket, which I dare say will look better on me than you."
Despite the circumstances, Pi found it hard not to disagree.
"It won't look that great if you blow a hole in it."
Jade lifted the gun and cocked the hammer.
"Not if I shoot you in the face."
Chapter Ten
Aurie was sitting on the desk in the library next to the Biblioscribe, staring at her phone hoping for a message from Pi, when Deshawn came running in.
"There you are. I've looked all over. Mali is going to kill me," he said, heaving.
Aurie almost asked why he didn't use a spell to find her. "What's up?"
"I don't know," said Deshawn, chewing on his lower lip. "She seemed pretty peeved, and I mean, like nuclear-grade peeved."
Aurie had a pretty good suspicion about what had set her off, and her stomach twisted thinking about what the professor was going to do. She'd known this day was coming, but thought it might be much later, like hopefully after he'd improved, so she would see the benefit of her decision.
"Is she in Semyon's room?"
"Yeah, how'd you know?"
"She's always there these days," she said, though that wasn't it. She had to assume that the professor had found the Engine of Temporal Manipulation.
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